An uplink data transmission process in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system mainly includes the following steps: First, a user equipment (user equipment, UE) sends a scheduling request (SR) message to a base station. Then, the base station sends scheduling grant (SG) information to the UE. The UE sends data by using resources allocated by the base station.
The SG information is transmitted by using downlink control information (downlink control information, DCI). The DCI generally includes a resource allocation indication bitmap, a modulation and coding scheme, and other information. After receiving the DCI, the UE may obtain information about the allocated resources by means of processing such as demodulation.
In the prior art, a bitmap in DCI sent by the base station to one UE is used to indicate only a resource allocation status of the UE, and some resources need to be occupied for sending each bitmap. As more UEs access the base station, total resources occupied by all bitmaps exponentially increase. An excessively large quantity of UEs results in excessively more system signaling overheads.